Tony Krauss here from Tucson Hobie Fleet 514, going for a rerun as Commodore in 2014, and also serving on the NAHCA board as 2nd Vice Chair. Our fleet has been sailing out of Rocky Point, Mexico, for something like 30 years, and last held a Championship there in 1994 for the H-18. We are intending to submit a bid for the 2015 H-16 NA Championships, and intend to propose sharing the event with the H-18s as well. We think we have a pretty good idea of what the concerns would be, both real and perceived, with travelling and hosting an event in Mexico, but I'd like to hear from the collective. Would you pretty much rule out going, or would you be open to the idea? What do you think would be the things that would concern you most? Maybe you already know it would be awesome?

Rocky Point is a little over 1 hour south of the US border, crossing through the small town of Lukeville on the US side, and the small-ish town of Sonoita on the Mexican side. RP is on the far northern mainland side of the Sea of Cortez, at pretty much the shortest distance from the border to the water. The Venue is an RV park and associated hotel, and is located on a sandy beach shore. Access to the sand is directly from the RV park. There is a high rise luxury condo directly adjacent to the venue, with larger rooms and nice facilities.

I sailed there a number of times in the 80's & 90's and even did the 18 nationals when they were there. This is a great venue, warm wind, warm water and have had pretty good luck with wind whenever I was there.

Here I was bracing for a conflict, and everyone thinks it's great? Might be easier than I thought...

Tom - We have a number of aging sailors with nice boats who are not interested in sailing a complete NAC event, but spend October in Puerto Penasco anyway - So I think we will have at least 4-5 charter boats with out really having to reach out. We will have to reach out to round up more than that.

Something to think about is getting rental cars into Mexico - I assume there are companies that do it, I don't know who they are yet. People that charter a boat and have to get to RP will probably fly into Tucson or Phoenix and drive from there. What may be the hot ticket for out-of-towners is to rent an RV in Tucson/Phoenix and drive that? I know I've seen rental RVs in RP, so it can be done.

Everyone will need a passport, but who doesn't have a passport?

I know there is a group of folks on the west coast that have issues in the past driving to San Felipe, with sketchy driving in Mexicali, crappy roads, and getting shook down by the federales on the way. The drive to RP is WAY easier - Two small Mexican towns, and you are there. You DO need to drive the speed limits in these towns, and when I exceeded the speed limit I have been offered the opportunity to pay the fine right there, but that has happened twice in the last 10 years or so. It's 'Mexico-Lite', with a large contingent of US ex-pats and vacation condo owners.

What else concerns the collective? Maybe the accessibility of US health care in an emergency? There are ways to get emergency transport to US hospitals, planning for will need to be part of the bid planning (and a good refresher for us regulars anyway...).

^^^ Since this is a North American Championship, they are already welcome. However, we rarely/never get Mexican nationals from the active Hobie areas of Mexico attending our Division regatta - Puerto Penasco is a several day drive from those areas. I wonder if any teams would make the drive, or would they be more likely to fly/charter a boat?

^^^ Since this is a North American Championship, they are already welcome. However, we rarely/never get Mexican nationals from the active Hobie areas of Mexico attending our Division regatta - Puerto Penasco is a several day drive from those areas. I wonder if any teams would make the drive, or would they be more likely to fly/charter a boat?

The new president of FMV is behind some changes for national and international events in Mexico. The Hobies are included as part of Copa Mexico for the first time in March 2014. There might be some support from him and the Hobie class for the event. I'm working on getting a new fleet started in the Puerto Vallarta area to support the class. I think it is definitely worth talking to FMV and the Class ... I've been involved with junior sailing in Banderas Bay for the 6 or 7 years but I'm new to the Hobie Class. There is probably money from the FMV, Local tourism board, and the Federal government to support and promote an event like this. I know that people fly into the Yucatan and charter boats for Cancun events. If the logistics work for the NA's that far north they might do the same.

A strong showing by the host country would be awesome! I would be happy for you to pass this on to the FMV and the MexHCA, and I am certainly interested in seeing if this is something that they would support.